Intermittent Fasting Linked to Higher Disordered Eating Risk in Young Adults: What the Research Shows

Intermittent Fasting Linked to Higher Disordered Eating Risk in Young Adults: What the Research Shows

Medical disclaimer: This article summarises published research for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not a substitute for guidance from a qualified health professional. Always consult your doctor before starting any fasting protocol, especially if you have an existing health condition or take medication.

Study at a Glance

What This Study Looked At

Researchers wanted to know how common intermittent fasting (IF) is among young Canadians, and whether people who practice it show higher rates of disordered eating behaviors and eating-disorder psychopathology than those who don't. This matters because IF has spread rapidly as a mainstream wellness trend, often without much scrutiny of who might be vulnerable to using it in an unhealthy way. If you're weighing whether fasting is dangerous for you personally, or want to recognize the warning signs that fasting has become obsessive, this study is directly relevant.

Who Was Studied

Participant profile: Adolescents and young adults aged approximately 16–30, recruited nationally across Canada through social media advertising. The sample included men, women, and transgender/gender-nonconforming (TGNC) participants, allowing the researchers to compare associations across gender groups.

How the survey worked: Participants self-reported whether they had engaged in intermittent fasting in the past 3 months (a single yes/no item), then completed validated questionnaires measuring eating-disorder psychopathology (the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire) and specific behaviors: binge eating, self-induced vomiting, laxative or diet pill misuse, muscle-building supplement use, and compulsive exercise.

What the Researchers Found

Eating-disorder psychopathology and IF engagement

• Nearly half of participants reported some past-3-month intermittent fasting — underscoring how mainstream the practice has become among this age group.
• Among women, IF engagement was associated with significantly higher odds of every disordered eating behavior assessed, including binge eating and compensatory behaviors like self-induced vomiting.
• Among men, the strongest associations were with compulsive exercise and muscle-building supplement use rather than binge/purge behaviors.
• TGNC participants who practiced IF also showed elevated psychopathology scores, though this subgroup was smaller.

Gender differences in the pattern

• The relationship between IF and disordered eating was not identical across genders — it showed up as different clusters of behavior for women, men, and TGNC participants.
• This suggests IF may interact with existing gender-specific body-image and eating pressures rather than producing one uniform risk profile.

What Did Not Change

• The study did not find that IF engagement was symptom-free or risk-free for any gender group — no subgroup was fully protected from an association with at least one disordered eating behavior.
• The study could not determine cause and effect; it cannot say whether IF triggers disordered eating, whether people already prone to disordered eating gravitate toward IF, or both.

What the Researchers Concluded

The authors concluded that intermittent fasting is common among Canadian adolescents and young adults and is associated with a range of disordered eating behaviors and higher eating-disorder psychopathology, with the specific pattern of risk varying by gender — and recommended that clinicians and public health messaging treat IF as a practice worth screening for eating-disorder risk rather than assuming it is universally safe for young people.

What This Means If You Fast

• Age and life stage matter. This study focused specifically on adolescents and young adults — a population with distinct developmental and identity pressures around body image, which may not generalize the same way to older adults.
• Correlation isn't causation. The cross-sectional design means the study can't prove IF causes disordered eating; some people with existing disordered eating tendencies may simply be drawn to fasting as a socially acceptable label for restriction.
• Motivation is a useful gut-check. If your reason for fasting centers on guilt, punishment, or compensating for eating rather than health goals, that's worth examining — see the warning signs that fasting has become obsessive.
• Compulsive exercise is a hidden risk, especially for men. The link to compulsive exercise and supplement use in men is easy to overlook since it doesn't look like a "classic" eating disorder presentation.
• Screening before starting is reasonable for young people. Anyone with a personal or family history of disordered eating should talk to a doctor before beginning any fasting protocol — see who should not fast for a fuller list of cautions.
• This doesn't mean IF is inherently harmful for everyone. It means the population practicing it skews younger than often assumed, and that population deserves more careful screening than it currently gets.

Study Limitations

• Cross-sectional design — a single snapshot in time, so no conclusions can be drawn about which came first, the fasting or the disordered eating tendency.
• Self-reported behavior via online survey, which can be affected by recall bias and social desirability bias.
• Recruitment through social media advertising may not represent the general population of young adults, and may over-sample people already engaged with wellness or fitness content.
• The single-item measure of "intermittent fasting" did not capture fasting protocol type, duration, or intention (health vs. weight-control vs. compensatory), which limits how precisely the findings can be interpreted.
• TGNC subgroup sample size was smaller than the men/women groups, so those estimates carry more uncertainty.

Source

Ganson, K. T., Cuccolo, K., Hallward, L., & Nagata, J. M. (2022). Intermittent fasting: Describing engagement and associations with eating disorder behaviors and psychopathology among Canadian adolescents and young adults. Eating Behaviors, 47, 101681. PMID: 36368052

Frequently Asked Questions

Does intermittent fasting cause eating disorders?

This study cannot prove causation — it found an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship. It's equally possible that people already prone to disordered eating are more drawn to intermittent fasting as a culturally acceptable way to restrict food.

Is intermittent fasting safe for teenagers and young adults?

This study raises real caution flags for this age group specifically. Nearly half of the sample had tried IF, and it was linked to higher disordered eating risk across genders, so young people — especially those with any history of disordered eating — should talk to a doctor before starting.

What disordered eating behaviors were linked to intermittent fasting in this study?

For women, IF was linked to nearly all behaviors measured, including binge eating and self-induced vomiting. For men, the strongest links were to compulsive exercise and muscle-building supplement use.

Does this study mean intermittent fasting is bad for everyone?

No. It means the specific population studied — adolescents and young adults — showed a meaningful association between IF and disordered eating risk, which is a reason for more careful screening in that age group rather than a blanket condemnation of fasting for all ages.

How can I tell if my fasting has become disordered eating?

Warning signs include fasting to "make up for" binge eating, extreme guilt around breaking a fast, compulsive over-exercising alongside fasting, and fasting despite clear physical or emotional harm. See the warning signs that fasting has become obsessive for a fuller checklist.

Related Research and Articles

• Fasting Obsession: Warning Signs for Women
• Is Intermittent Fasting Dangerous?
• Who Should Not Fast
• Intermittent Fasting Disadvantages
• Fasting and Body Image in Women

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